In the 1980s, the minimum insurance requirement for motor carriers was increased from $500,000 to $750,000. Nearly 40 years later, many are questioning whether that number remains sufficient.

The “Improving National Safety by Updating the Required Amount of Insurance Needed by Commercial Motor Vehicles per Event (INSURANCE) Act of 2019” was introduced by Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois and Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania last week and would “ensure minimum insurance requirements for motor carriers are periodically adjusted to the inflation rate of medical costs [every five years], as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.” (1)

While a few carriers hold $1 million in insurance coverage, the majority still maintain the 1980 minimum of $750,000 which, according to the INSURANCE Act, would convert to $4,923,153.29 if raised to account for medical cost inflation in 2019, the new minimum the Act is seeking. (1)

If the drive to increase carrier insurance minimums sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Back in 2014, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sought comment to raise the minimum and by how much, but due to insufficient data/support, the proposal never advanced.

García, along with Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia, also took a stand on the increasing level of congestion on our nation’s highways and with it, increased risk of accidents, proposing the Safe Roads Act, which would require that trucks contain automatic emergency braking (AEB) technology. (1)

Road Scholar Transport takes the safety of our drivers and everyone else on the road, very seriously. That’s why we have anti-collision technology incorporated onto our trucks. These ACB systems (Active Cruise with Braking) allow our trucks to maintain a set distance of 8/10ths of a mile marker behind a forward vehicle. When cruise control is off, the ACB will deliver a beeping alert, which gets faster and louder when closing in on a vehicle, as well as a visual warning on the dashboard showing how far the vehicle is from our truck. When cruise control is on, the ACB will automatically reduce the throttle, use the engine retarder, or apply the brakes (delivering 1/3 the vehicle’s power but the driver can apply the rest if needed) in order to maintain a set distance from the vehicle ahead and help avoid accidents.